Grand Family Summer Adventure - Part I

I mentioned before we left for vacation that we had made a pact to camp along the way instead of staying in hotels and to not buy any fast or convenience store food. Did we succeed? We did. Mostly.

Before I get into that though, I have to highly recommend both Magic Circle RV Park in Willcox, AZ and Top of the Hill RV Resort in Boerne, TX (just north of San Antonio). Both places were clean and the staff was welcoming and friendly. I can't recommend them enough. Because we came equipped with our own camp stove and dishes, it was actually nicer than staying in a hotel. And I'm not entirely a pioneer woman. We set up Ladybug's playpen in the back of the van and I slept on the bench seat. Fritter and my dear husband slept in the tent.

So about the food. First, my planning worked out great. The only time we failed was our second morning. We had planned to be on the road by 6am to make Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower. But we were tired and slept in, so the morning was a rush. There wasn't time to boil the water for our oatmeal, so when we stopped for gas we also bought $11 worth of donuts, muffins, milk, and coffee. And we still missed Mass at the Basilica and had to catch it that evening in Alexandria with our family. So it wasn't that much of a sacrifice for a little extra sleep. ;) My heart was set on seeing the Basilica and my husband really wanted to see the Alamo, so we planned on spending more time in San Antonio on the trip home.

I know some of my readers know or live in West Texas, so you will understand when I say that without planning it's possible to be ready for a stop and not have anywhere to stop. And gas prices between El Paso and San Antonio are outrageous. (If you have a trip going that way, I highly recommend gasing up in Las Cruces or El Paso and then driving 65mph for optimal gas mileage so you won't have to get gas until San Antonio.)

So I planned a good stop for us in Las Cruces, NM at Veterans Memorial Park. The kids were ready to get out of the car by then.



It was a nice clean park with a great war memorial that my husband enjoyed while the kids played on the playground.

Then we raced the clock to get to our final stop for the day in Boerne, TX. Because we lost two hours that day, it was dark by the time we got there. Thankfully the RV park was lit enough for us to get dinner done and set up the tent.

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As I mentioned above, our first trip into San Antonio did not work out as planned, and we were anxious to get to Alexandria to see dh's brother and his family. We stayed the night in Alexandria and spent just enough time to squeeze the local cutie before leaving early the next morning for Atlanta. (Nephew JG).

Not many of the stops between Louisiana and Georgia played out as I planned, but we did find a nice park in Birmingham, and I experienced my first encounter with fire ants (ouch!). We were very excited when we saw our first glimpse of Atlanta. Don't you just love pictures taken from the car?

Stay tuned for the Grand Family Summer Adventure Part II where I'll tell about cute kids, a nightmarish shopping trip, and a gaggle of Catholic kids watching fireworks in a cul-de-sac.